The Shippensburg University football team begins its 2026 season at 1 p.m. Saturday when it hosts Lock Haven for a non-conference “Week 0” game at Student Association Field at Seth Grove Stadium.

Saturday marks Shippensburg's first game to be played in the month of August in 16 years (a 35-27 home loss vs. Shepherd on August 28, 2010). Ironically, the 2010 season was head coach Drew Gallardy's senior season, and Rocky Rees' final season as head coach.
 

Shippensburg enters the 2026 season with 95 players on its roster. 

SU has 42 players on its roster who were on the team last fall.

Overall, the Raiders have 49 returning players when factoring in seven student-athletes who joined the squad in Spring 2026.

That makes for a total of 46 newcomers this fall, of which 44 are true freshmen in their first season of eligibility. 

The class breakdown of the 2026 roster is listed below.

Players are sorted by their eligible years remaining based on unofficial eligibility; please note that each player's eligibility status will be certified or verified before kickoff on Saturday.

Each player's “traditional” eligibility is listed in parentheses following their name. 

COACHING STAFF:

Back Row (L-R): assistant coach Josh Finafrock (wide receivers), assistant coach Ron Kerr (offensive line), assistant coach Nehemiah Bowie (safeties), assistant coach Todd Ryan (defensive line), assistant coach Pete Lee (tight ends & specialists), student assistant coach Vincent Micucci (offensive quality control) [not pictured: JC Morgan (running backs)]

Front Row (L-R): student assistant Matt Van de Castle (defensive quality control), assistant coach Brayden Long (offensive coordinator & quarterbacks), assistant coach Mike Burket (defensive coordinator & linebackers), head coach Drew Gallardy, graduate assistant Tasir Money (edge rushers), assistant coach David Cook (cornerbacks), head strength & conditioning coach Dennis Kerstetter

Shippensburg is under the direction of Drew Gallardy '10, who became the head coach on Dec. 23, 2025 and led the Raiders through spring ball. 

For Gallardy, this will mark his fourth different coaching role in the last four seasons. Last year, Gallardy became Shippensburg's offensive coordinator while still instructing the offensive line. Gallardy's was hired in 2024 and in his first year on the SU staff, he served as the offensive line coach. In 2023, Gallardy was the defensive coordinator at Alfred State (N.Y.).

Gallardy was an offensive lineman for the Raiders who played 37 career games, made 33 starts and served as a team captain in his senior season. In 2009, he started 12 games at tackle for an SU team that won the PSAC Championship and reached the second round of the NCAA playoffs.

 “My calling is to honor Coach Rees, Coach Mac, and Shippensburg University by upholding the Shippensburg Standard,” Gallardy said upon his hiring. "It has been passed down to me, and it is my responsibility to carry it forward."

THE “COMMA” CLUB

NOTES FOR 2026:

• Every PSAC Eastern Division team (including Shippensburg) will play a game against PSAC provisional member Lackawanna. The contests do not count in the Conference standings, do not count toward a team's NCAA record, and will not be considered "in-region" for NCAA ranking considerations. The games will still count toward overall records, and statistics will be applied into the season totals.

• Saturday's opener was originally scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 12 as part of the PSAC’s mandated crossover schedule. The PSAC allowed for the mandated game to be played in Week 0 instead of in Week 2 as a result of a late schedule change that affected Shippensburg’s schedule. As a result, Shippensburg will have a bye next week (in Week 1), while Lock Haven will have a bye in Week 2.

• With Lackawanna's arrival, Lock Haven was shifted to the PSAC Western Division - hence why the Bald Eagles are now a crossover opponent instead of a divisional opponent as it was last season.

• Shippensburg enters the 2026 season with 35 players on its roster who hail from PIAA District III (Correll Akings (Wilson), Landon Bailey (Spring Grove Area), Ethan Carlos (Central York), Christopher Cromartie (Dallastown Area), Aidan Dauble (Exeter Township), Blake Eastep (Hempfield), Alex Erby (Steelton-Highspire), Marcos Fernandez (Manheim Township), Brandon Foss (Wyomissing Area), Trey Good (East Pennsboro), Kyle Groman (Central York), Derek Guzman (Hershey), Luke Hines (Lampeter-Strasburg), Evan Honberger (Ephrata), Jermere Jones (Chambersburg Area), Trae Kater (Shippensburg Area), Gavin Kelly (Governor Mifflin), Jarrett Kern (Susquehanna Township), Hezikyah Latini (Cedar Cliff), Javani Mosley (Carlisle), Brody Pines (Cumberland Valley), Caiden Pines (Cumberland Valley), Palmer Reber (Berks Catholic), Dameon Reese (Trinity), Nasir Ruppert (Central York), Alex Sauve (Cumberland Valley), Kaden Shope (Shippensburg Area), Peyton Stadler (Fairfield Area), Jordan Suarez (Penn Manor), Marcus Sweeney (Hershey), Isaiah Tasker (Chambersburg Area), Joel Ummarino (Exeter Township), Andre Weidman (Ephrata), Paul Williams (Eastern Lebanon County), Kam Wolfe (Cumberland Valley)). In this group are 16 are Mid-Penn Conference alumni, 13 Lancaster-Lebanon (LL) League alumni and six York-Adams Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) alumni.

• The Raiders won three PSAC Eastern Division games in 2025, defeating Bloomsburg (10-7), Millersville (41-28) and West Chester (43-14).